


Comfort in the Dark

by yalejosie



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-07
Updated: 2019-01-07
Packaged: 2019-10-06 04:29:32
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 941
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17338616
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/yalejosie/pseuds/yalejosie
Summary: The angstiest thing I've ever written





	Comfort in the Dark

**Author's Note:**

> Cam’s beta titles: Patented Pain, Ow My Soul, THERE ARE TEARS ON MY KEYBOARD, this is why there's a hole in my wall, someone get this boy a nightlight. This idea entered my brain in the middle of the night and I just sat up bolt straight and I took out my laptop and wrote this down furiously. I was making the Grinch face the entire time I wrote this. Ahead of time, I'm so sorry for the angst. I warned you ahead of time. OwO

Curtis woke up to screams.

 

Tensions were high on the Atlas right now. Voltron had won the war, but the journey back to Earth was solemn. The Atlas had to prepare to tell the universe that Allura had died, which did not sit well for anyone in the crew. Yet when Curtis was awoken in the middle of the night, he immediately left his room to see who had been hurt. He rushed to find the source of the sound, which was hard in the dim light of the nighttime mode of the ship. Eventually, Curtis tracked down the source of the sound to  _ Captain Shiro's room _ . Hoping he wouldn't be discharged for insubordination, he entered the Captain’s room to check if the man inside was okay.

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He had seen Allura again that night.

 

The nightmare always repeated itself. His head had decided to make Allura's death even worse in his dreams than it had been in real life. In his nightmares, Allura was raised into the air, a huge storm cloud of light enveloping her, screams of agony, and then nothing left behind. He always woke up alone in his room, trying to keep his composure intact even in his private quarters. Yet this night was going to be very different. 

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He should've just left. He should've just said “Glad to see you're okay, sir” and left the room and returned to his own. Yet when Curtis opened the door, the look of pure hurt he saw on the Captain's, no, this  _ person's _ face, would have made him feel endless guilt if he had left the room. Curtis couldn't have called himself a proper human being if he had left  _ anyone _ in a state like that. So he went to sit down next to the shaking captain who was sitting bolt straight on the side of his bed. 

 

“Sir, I mean Captain, no, Shiro, are you okay?” 

 

Shiro looked up and saw one of the members of the bridge crew sitting right next to him. And this man had just asked him if he was okay instead of asking for orders like he usually did. 

 

“Shiro, I don't know if I have the right to know, but what happened? I just want to make sure you are alright. I'm very aware that stress levels are high right now, and I know you and Allura were particularly close. So if there is anything, anything at all, I can do for you right now, don't hesitate to ask. I'm here to help.” 

 

This man. This man had just treated him like a  _ real person. _ Not the Captain of the Atlas, not the Black Paladin. This man wanted nothing of him. He didn't want Shiro's strength, or expertise. He just wanted to help him, to see if he was okay. In short, Shiro utterly lost composure. He began to sob. He sobbed for Allura, for all the others who had died. He cried for his pain, for everyone's pain that he had carried along on his shoulders. He sobbed right into this man's lap, and this man didn't flinch. This man, who barely knew Shiro, he held this sobbing, broken man tight and let him cry. 

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Curtis had no idea what to do. If someone had told him he would be comforting one of the universe's greatest heroes in the middle of the night tonight, he would've laughed in their face. Yet Curtis was here. All he had thought to do when Shiro had collapsed was to hold him. That move had been pure instinct. But from there, he had no  _ idea _ what to do. All he thought was to listen and try to understand the extent of this person's pain. He listened as Shiro whispered regrets and people he had lost between long, heartbreaking sobs. Curtis listened, and listened, and listened. Eventually the sobs stopped, and Shiro looked up with red, puffy eyes at the man who had held him for so long. 

 

“Thank you, thank you so much.”

 

Then, he passed out cold.

 

_ Oh god how could this get worse. _ If anyone walked in on the two of them right now, it would look so bad. The Captain of the Atlas lay passed out and tear streaked in Curtis’ lap. Curtis panicked and thought about what to do. If he moved too hastily, then there was a chance that Shiro would wake up, and would probably have a lot questions for him. But he couldn't stay, because if Shiro woke up in the morning in Curtis’ lap, then the questions would be even worse. In the end, Curtis decided to carefully carry Shiro back into his bed and make it seem like his visit had been a strange dream. 

 

As Curtis tucked Shiro in, he saw Shiro's face one more time. He looked peaceful now, deeply asleep. It seemed that he had cried all of it out, and could now sleep peacefully.  _ Whew _ ,  _ well, at least I did something right _ . As soon as everything was settled, Curtis walked back to his own room and flopped onto his bed. He was asleep in an instant. 

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When Shiro saw the man again on the deck the next day, he knew right away he needed to talk to him. He saw his name tag as he walked up to the mystery man. His name was Curtis. “Curtis, can I talk to you?” “Sure, sir”. The two men went into the hall. “Look, I want to apologize for last night. Usually I don't cry that hard. Or at all. So, can we meet up at the cafeteria sometime to make it up to you?” “Sure”

 


End file.
